


Athena and the Moon

by etched_radius (suiqune)



Series: harry potter aus [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Femslash, Gen, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-17 07:58:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5860645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suiqune/pseuds/etched_radius
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermione makes her first ever friend during her first trip to Flourish & Blotts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Athena and the Moon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [naelany](https://archiveofourown.org/users/naelany/gifts).



> Hermione's first time in Flourish & Blotts – AU points: Hermione loses her faith in authority before she starts Hogwarts and makes a quill friend with a pureblood.

She turns eleven _eighteen days_ after term starts and she has to wait a _year_ until she starts Hogwarts. It’s the most ridiculous thing she’s ever heard! There is no possible way that eighteen days makes _that much_ of a difference, and she’s going to prove it. There have to be books about magical theory and development in the bookstore Professor McGonagall told her about. She’s got pocket money saved up, enough for one or two at least, she’s sure. The Ministry of Magic might be paying her tuition – to let her parents tell other muggles she won a scholarship to an exclusive boarding school in Scotland for the gifted, to prevent breaks in the Statute of Secrecy – but they have to pay for all her school things out of pocket. They’re not poor, or anything, but her parents are big believers in teaching her the basics as soon as possible so she isn’t sure if they’ll pay for _extra_ books.

She has a _plan_ – which derails the moment she steps foot into Flourish  & Blotts.

There are _so many books_.

She leaves her amused parents in the Muggle Friendly section (that’s honestly what it’s called. She doesn’t even _care_ ) and flits from shelf to shelf, bypassing the schoolbooks completely to flip excitedly through tomes on runes and magical plants and the various types of divination. She gets sidetracked for a while in the shelves dedicated to magical creatures, where she makes her first friend.

“You’d have more luck with _Then The Sky Fell_ if you’re interested in the Skybound Seahorses,” a dreamy voice cut through her perusal of a book about the kinds of creatures mermaids kept as pets and livestock.

There was a girl about her age pointing to the shelf right above her, with slightly buggy eyes and pale blond hair. She had an expression to match her voice.

“ _My Journey Through Atlantis_ is really only good to start fires with,” she concluded with a nod.

“The…what?” Hermione asked, politely, if confused. “How could a seahorse be bound to the sky? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Oh, they live in the clouds, with the rain before it decides to fall. They get terribly upset during blizzards.”

“I…” that did make a disturbing sort of sense, in a way. She didn’t know _why_ it did, but for some reason she couldn’t find a fault in the logic of the explanation.

“Of course not. That’s the ambient magic fixing your thought channels.”

Oh, she must have said that out loud.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized with a blush. “That was rude of me. I’m Hermione, by the way. And thank you for telling me, about the…Skyhorses?”

The girl’s hands flew to her mouth and she squeaked. Hermione was horrified. What had she done wrong?”

“I’m sorry!” she said again, frantically. She put the book back on the shelf and looked around desperately for the title the girl had told her about. What had it been? There!

“I’ll definitely get this one,” she told the girl, hoping it would help.

“You don’t have to,” the girl said in a rush.

Hermione shook her head.

“I want to,” she said firmly.

“I mean, I couldn’t even get the name right,” she said, indicating the second line on the cover, _The Habits of the Skybound Seahorse_ , “I obviously need to read more about it.”

“I’m Luna,” the girl – Luna – blurted, a blush still on her cheeks. “Thank you for not telling me I’m stupid.”

Hermione is _horrified_. And it gets _worse._

“I was just surprised you apologized to me. Only Daddy does that.”

“Well,” Hermione said firmly. “I was rude, so I had to apologize. If anyone is rude to you and _doesn’t_ apologize, then _they’re_ the stupid one.”

Luna smiles tentatively at her. “Do you want to be friends? I can tell you lots more about the Skybound Seahorses. I helped Daddy write an article about them last year.”

Hermione smiles back. “I’d _love_ to be friends with you, Luna.”


End file.
